Microplastics: a threat to the planet

Conclusion to the podcast

Episode 6    Welcome to the latest episode of my podcast «Hidden threat: daily eating of bank cards»   For me, the time spent searching for the information that interested me was truly amazing, I spent a lot of time reading, watching, figuring out and structuring(стракчаринг) the information presented in the previous episodes.  At the end of the long work done, I would like to summarize everything that was said earlier in the podcast.  I hope that after listening to my podcast, the listener realized the scale and threats that plastic brings to our environment and our own health. Together we learned that microplastics enter our food through water and air  Microplastics is always around us – even in the most remote and remote places  However, I told you about the progress in studying and combating the problem of microplastics. Scientists and experts around the world are working to develop new technologies to remove it from the environment and eliminate its impact on our health. It is important to pay attention to the regulation of the use of plastic, industry and consumers, as well as the recycling and disposal of plastic. The urgency of the microplastics problem highlights the need for conscious and responsible consumption, as well as making changes in our daily lives. We can reduce our use of plastic by choosing to buy products packaged in renewable(ренюабл) materials, using reusable bags and containers instead of single-use ones, and supporting local initiatives(инишативс) to collect and recycle plastic waste. It is this and only this that allows us to build a world where nature and human can coexist(коэкзист) in harmony and balance.   Thank you very much for listening to the podcast in full, I sincerely(сансирли) hope that after this some of your basic habits will be questioned, and your attitude to plastic will be more responsible and conscious(коншэс).  Bye :)

Microplastic tablet

Episode 5  Hello and welcome to the episode about how to protect yourself from the effects of microplastics. In fact, it is absolutely impossible to rid yourself of microplastics. In the second episode of my podcast, I quoted a line from a website about comparing microplastic particles to beads scattered around a room, and it is a remarkably accurate description of how polymer particles settle in our world, just not allowing us to separate it from nature. So, even if you follow all the methods below to combat microplastics, you still won't cure the air of them, and by buying synthetic clothes in huge quantities, people only exacerbate this problem. However, there is a good new! While you can't stop yourself from inhaling microplastics, you can limit your intake, thereby greatly reducing the amount of microparticles that enter your body.  Still, I don't plan to drag out this episode too much, let's move on to the methods themselves.  1. Drink mostly filtered water rather than bottled water (a study found that bottled water contains about twice as much microplastics as filtered water or even tap water). 2. Do not give preference to plastic food containers (or use utensils labeled "Food Grade"). 3. Eat more meat than fish (it contains more particles than meat) or at least reduce your intake of seafood. 4. As much as possible, avoid clothes made of synthetics, spandex, nylon and polyester, and when washing these materials, use only low temperatures. 5. Instead of biomaterials, use fabrics such as wool, linen, organic cotton, silk. 6. Do not use tea in nylon bags and reduce the consumption of tea from any tea bags, giving preference to brewing. 7. Regularly clean the premises, especially wet ones, ventilate the premises (microplastic particles tend to settle in the dust). 8. Be more careful when choosing cosmetics, for example glitter, as well as the presence of the following substances in the product (which you can find in the description of this episode): Nylon-12, Nylon-6. Carbomer, Polyquaternium-7, Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyethylene (PE), Acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, Sodium polyacrylate, Polystyrene (PS), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Acrylates copolymer, Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA),  Polyurethane (PU), Cyclopentasiloxane, Polypropylene (PP), Cyclohexasiloxane are a clear indicator of the content of microplastic particles in it. 9. Heat food exclusively in ceramic or glass dishes (under the influence of high temperatures, microparticles are separated from plastic dishes and move into the food). 10. Sorting garbage will also have a great benefit to the ecosystem of our planet, because by recycling, microplastic particles will enter the environment in much smaller quantities.   In fact, in today's world, scientists, studying microplastics more and more, are finding various options to solve the problem of its prevalence. Thus, the English company Guppyfriend has developed a washing bag that does not allow microplastic particles from clothes to penetrate into the sewer, forming a kind of filter. The company states that after washing, the bag should be shaken and the microplastic fibers formed on it should be discarded. It can be seen that in the modern world, various ways to reduce the release of plastic and microplastics into the environment are still being developed, laws are being issued prohibiting the production of cosmetics containing microplastic particles, devices are being developed to help reduce human waste or destroy it safely for the environment.    That's all I have for today, thank you for listening!

Plasticine food

Episode 4  Hello, and welcome to my podcast  about microplastics.  Today we will talk about those products in which scientists have found the largest number of microplastic particles. This is important, first of all, so that you understand which foods to watch out for and which ones can be avoided if possible. When searching for information about each product, I tried to find as much information as possible confirming the data from the previous site, in some cases this did not happen, so I strongly recommend that you proceed with the information offered at your own discretion and to the best of your ability. Another interesting piece of information was provided by one of the  universities, which conducted 52 studies that aimed to find out the amount of microplastics consumed by humans in one day. Of the total number of searches conducted, 33 were aimed at identifying the amount of microparticles in food and drinks. As a result of these studies, microplastic particles are present in the following products:  1. Water  (both running and bottled) – The researchers' testimony is that after just seven days of being on the shelves of the store, dangerous toxins begin to be actively released into bottled water, along with particles of microplastics from the walls of the bottle (at the moment it is considered the product with the highest content of polymer particles) 2. Fruits and Vegetables (especially apples and carrots) - Microplastic particles enter these foods primarily through soil and water.  3. Seafood (especially shellfish and mussels) – The researcher and head of the Friends of the Baltic microplastics project says: "Mussels are able to absorb polymer particles by allowing water to pass through them, so they can be used as natural filters."  4. Tea in nylon bags – The most common and dangerous type of tea bags, in which the dry mixture is inside a plastic bag, which produces a huge amount of polymer particles in it during welding. Other products such as honey, salt (the East Asian company Greenpeace conducted a study showing that 90% of salt sold on the market contains microplastic particles).   That's all I have for today, the episode came out a bit small, but I tried to fit as much useful information into it as possible.  Thank you for your listening!

Microplastics - global poison of humanity

Episode 3   Hello and welcome to the 3rd episode of my podcast.    During this episode, I would like to talk about the dangers of microplastics to human health. It seems to me that this particular topic is the most interesting and important part of my podcast. The thing is that no matter how hard people try to take care of the environment, it is much more important for them to be their comfort and health, which is completely understandable and correct. However, it so happened that if a person rejects plastic as much as possible, the impact of the polymer on the planet will also decrease. That is why it seems to me that it is so important to talk about the impact of microplastics on human health, because this topic concerns every person on Earth more than any other. So, let's dive into the world of microplastics from a medical point of view. To begin with, I'd like to quote The Guardian's co-author, Varun Kelkar, who says:  "We don't want to be alarmists in any way, but we are concerned that these non-biodegradable particles that are everywhere can seep and accumulate in human tissues, and we don't know any exact health effects".  Or listen what the Chief Executive Officer of Greenpeace says: "Polymers can contain toxic additives that are harmful to humans. And some, according to animal studies, can provoke cancer, inflammation and infertility."  Scientists themselves are actively studying microplastics, but such а complex research requires time and lots of money.  Quite interesting information about "credit card eating" can be found in various Internet sources. This is the name that people associate microplastics with, which have already been found by scientists in human organs and tissues, such as lungs, stomach and blood. Up to 5 grams in size, they can be matched to the weight of a credit card. About 250 grams can be consumed per year, And this is the approximate weight of a small tablet. Just imagine the volumes of particles that enter your body every day! Bank card per day! However, the most interesting is yet to come.  To begin with, I would like to mention  that French researchers and scientists found that 79% of bottled water in the country is contaminated(контаминэйтед) with microplastic particles, and this number includes products of world-famous brands that produce water, such as Evian, Perrier, Carrefour, Badoit, Cristaline, Vitte and Volvic. Scientists from the Robert Koch Institute and the German Ministry of the Environment also conducted studies on urine and blood samples of 2,500 children aged from 3 to 17 years old for three years. In 97% of the urine samples, traces of 11 out of 15 different types of plastic were found. There have been a number of experiments that I would like to list, I believe that this would help people to see at the problem of microplastics in a different light.  Thus, for the first time, researchers from Vrije University of Amsterdam have found traces of microplastics in human blood. Of the 22 participants in the study, 17 people, or 80% of those tested, were found to have tiny particles of the polymer. More than half of the samples contained PET plastic, which is commonly used in plastic bottles, while a third contained polystyrene, which is used to make food packaging, and a quarter contained polyethylene. However, the most important result of the study was the fact that, as it turns out, microplastics can move around our body through one of the most important systems of the human body - the circulatory system.  In addition to the circulatory system,  a  study was conducted  at the University of Hull in the UK showing that microplastic fibers reside in the lungs of surgical patients. And their number and variety is astonishing, the scientists say they were "stunned to find a rich set of all shapes and sizes." Also, polymer particles were found in the lower lobe of the lung, which means that Microplastics can not only circulate through the body, but also settle in its organs.  Nancy Nadeau, a physician and director of allergy and asthma research at Stanford University, states  that "particles of the dangerous polymer cause lung irritation, dizziness, headaches, asthma and cancer because in many studies they are present in the lungs of patients with severe symptoms." However, the scientist clarifies that the information needs to be confirmed by some further researches.  Also, Environmental Science & Technolodgy devote a short note to what they wrote about the presence of a sudden correlation of a certain substance from microplastic particles and elevated cholesterol. In accordance with the above, if polymer microparticles increase total cholesterol levels, they correspondingly increase the risk of developing a variety of cardiovascular diseases. But the company states that they are continuing researches in this area.  Another interesting experiment was conducted in Turkey by researchers from Rice University, who published the results of their work in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, which stated that "microplastics are a very favorable environment for bacteria resistant to antibiotics, substances that are the only barrier separating humans from dangerous infections, which in itself endanger the future of humans to fight various diseases." All of the above research is thought-provoking, isn't it? It would be worth it, because the microplastic problem is a really serious threat.  Professor Dick Wetaak says: "The big question is, what's going on in our body? Do particles remain in the body? Are they carried to certain organs, such as crossing the blood-brain barrier? And are these levels high enough to cause disease? We urgently need to arrange further research to find out."   At the moment, as I said, researches in the field of microplastics continues, and at the moment it is difficult to find out exactly the scale of the microplastic problem for humans and the world as a whole. Scientists are scratching their heads trying to figure out whether it is possible that the smallest particles of microplastics – nanoparticles – penetrated into humans through the tissues of their bodies directly from the air.  So, I guess it's time to wrap it up.  Thanks for your listening!

Microplastics: a threat to the planet

The podcast text is posted here: Hello! And welcome to the second episode of my podcast Let's dive into microplastics, while searching for information about microplastics on the Internet, I also managed to communicate with some people live, it was interesting. I would especially like to mention one man, the chief engineer of a naval ship construction company, who has traveled to a huge number of seas and oceans and saw firsthand what they are called "garbage islands", namely the "Great Pacific Spot", which consists entirely of plastic and, according to scientists, contains approximately 10 billion plastic bottles. Studying this kind of information, I increasingly begin to think about how much the smallest components of plastic are microplastic particles, and if I go even deeper, plastic nanoparticles are widespread in the world. However, first, it is worth getting acquainted with the concept of microplastics. Microplastics are plastic particles no larger than 5 mm, where particles of 5 mm are considered "huge" and are quite rare. Today, scientists can recognize particles as small as 0.0007 mm, and this is the reason why people don't notice how it enters their bodies I especially liked the phrase taken from the RECUCLEMAG.RU website in the article "Microplastics: why it is dangerous and how to reduce its amount", I will quote it because, in my opinion, it most clearly describes the mechanism of the spread of microplastics: "imagine a handful of beads: small, plastic, multicolored. If you scatter it around the room, then, most likely, you will not collect all the beads, they will remain in the cracks, behind the furniture. It is the same with microplastics – it is impossible to separate them from water, soil, and air. Particles of the smallest fraction cannot be filtered."  Scientists divide microplastics into primary and secondary, where the primary is care cosmetics, household chemicals, cosmetics and clothing, and the secondary is the decay product of primary plastic. Scientists conducted research and found that 73% of the inhabitants of the world's oceans have already consumed microplastics as food. In one Japan's University, an experiment was conducted, the report of which said that the upper layers of the world's oceans contain approximately 24.5 trillion microplastics, which is about 30 billion half-liter bottles. Just imagine, it can take up to 1000 years for a plastic bottle alone to decompose! Plastic is an incredibly common material in today's world, with approximately 36 percent being used to make packaging, food or beverages, and 84 percent of all of which are sent to landfills. About 60 percent of the clothes made are made of plastic, because as a result of washing alone, about 500,000 tons of plastic fibers are thrown away, and this can be compared to 3 billion shirts made of pure polyester.  Especially surprising for me personally was the fact that microplastic particles were found even on Mount Everest, including the cleanest air of this place, scientists assume that the particles were carried there by the wind. "What many people don't know is that the material that enters our daily lives can have a significant impact not only on wildlife, but also on the climate and human health," says Llorens Milai Canals, Head of the Life Cycle Initiative at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) It seems to me that the average person often does not even realize the danger of microplastics for the environment, considering it something that does not concern him, but every person is “a brick in the wall” as it is said in the Pink Floyd song “another brick in the wall”.  That's all for today, the most interesting things are just ahead, thank you for your listening!